While there are some really nice conveniences the new game's added (automatic replenishing of potions when you meditate), it's also succumbed to the kind of fiddly inventory shit that the first game did such a great job of not fucking around with.

(I don't remember exactly how the inventory worked in the second game, which suggests it fell somewhere in the middle between the first game's radical if-you-want-a-new-sword-you're-just-going-to-have-to-drop-your-old-one-where-you-stand system and the third one's pretty-much-like-Skyrim one.)

I still think the game's got way too much inventory fiddling and in a lot of ways I prefer the original game's extreme approach (you mean I've got to just drop my sword, right here in the swamp, if I want to equip a new one?). But it's not as bad as, say, Skyrim, where I find myself constantly going on a mission and then home to deposit the potentially-useful-but-not-immediately-necessary stuff I picked up and sell the unnecessary stuff. (I guess there's probably a mod for that; I should look into it.) There have only been a couple times in Witcher 3 when I've gotten overburdened (and both were prior to purchasing saddlebags), and in both cases I'd accumulated a bunch of junk I was planning to sell later but didn't really need to hang onto.

I really should have replayed Witcher 2 before playing 3; I haven't played it since it was new and I've forgotten so much. Like, I remember Phillippa, but I had no recollection whatsoever of who Dijkstra was.

Of course, having some vague idea that there's some backstory you're not aware of is sort of par for the course for the series, inasmuch as the books still haven't all been published in English yet. I imagine the scene between Geralt and Ciri's father would have meant more to me if I'd read past Blood of Elves. I've read enough of the series to know why I should give a fuck about Ciri (and maybe Yennefer, though frankly that's a bit of a stretch; I'm not entirely sure Geralt and Yen are even in a scene together in Last Wish or Blood of Elves, it's mostly just Geralt pining for her while fucking other women, and also Triss has diarrhea and/or bad cramps for most of the book; seriously you guys I'm not making this up).

As much as the first game is inconsequential to the events of the second and third (I believe that if you import your save from the first game into the second, there is one line of dialogue explaining why all that trouble you went to to save the princess so she could marry and unite two kingdoms has somehow turned out not to have any impact whatsoever on the secession of either kingdom), there are still some worthwhile callbacks. When you go to the castle in Vizima in Witcher 3, it's satisfying to see that it retains the layout it had in the ending of the first game (and IIRC the training yard at Kaer Moerhen where you learn to fight in 3 is the same spot where you learned to fight in 1). And when one there are a few lines of dialogue about a minor character from the first game, ending in the revelation that he's been burned at the stake, well, that's got a lot more punch when you know who they're talking about.

One of my gripes with the official translations was that there didn't seem to be any attempt at continuity for how the names were localized; it's "Vizima" in the games but "Wyzim" in the books, "Dandelion" in the games but "Dandilion" in the books, etc.

("Wyzim" is actually probably better, given how fucking confusingly similar the names are. There's a King Vizimir, not to be confused with Vesemir, who is not the same person as Ves; Vizimir is a king, but he is not the king of Vizima; the king of Vizima is Foltest.)

The voices are a big part of continuity, too. On the one hand, keeping the same voice for Geralt for all three games does give a big sense of continuity; on the other, well, Gruff Toughguy isn't a tough voice to do and he actually would have been a pretty easy one to replace. (I do a decent imitation myself.)

The second game replaced most of the cast; some, like Zoltan, were similar enough that it wasn't too noticeable, while others, like Triss, were downright jarring. (I came around to the new voice, as she gives Triss a lot more range than she had in the first game, but it was definitely an adjustment.) The third game looks to have brought back Vesemir's voice from the first game, and cast a Thaler who sounds pretty close to the original version.

Looks like the Polish voice cast had a lot more continuity through the series. Though I suppose that's to be expected; I can't say as I know anything about the Polish voice acting industry but I would guess if you call a Polish VA who you worked with a few years ago he's likelier to be available again than an American VA in the same situation.

Could be good. As I've mentioned upthread, I read Last Wish (short story collection; good) and Blood of Elves (novel; not so good). Not sure where the series will start, whether it'll go episodic and do the short story adaptations first, or dive right into the series arc (or some combination of both).

I still don't like the game series (without having played 3 yet) but think the characters and world would make for some great episodic stories ala Mushishi or even a dark fantasy Mad Max.

Given Netflix's success with character-driven hero stories lately and the notoriety of the character, I'd be amazed if it doesn't focus on Geralt, but hopefully more how he reacts to the world than his own personal grand adventure.

Mad Max is a good comparison. The early short stories are definitely in the "a stranger comes to town, fights off evil, and then walks off into the sunset" tradition of the samurai/sword-and-sandals/western/etc. genres, with a fairy tale twist -- Brothers Grimm, Arabian Nights, etc. ("The Last Wish" is a reference to using your third wish to make the djinn go back into his bottle.)

I'd like that a lot.

The novels, though, turn into a complicated story of warring kingdoms. Given the elephant in the room, I'd expect the show to focus more on that element.

It could even be both. I've always liked shows that alternated between arc-building and monster-of-the-week episodes.

I...think he'll probably be fine? I am not a fan of the Zack Snyder Superman movies, but I'm pretty sure that's not Cavill's fault. My main complaint about Snyder's Superman is that he is too dour and murdery, and I think actually those attributes are probably fine for Geraldo of Rivera.